After brain-hemorrhage scare, UFC's Brian Foster cleared to fight

UFC welterweight Brian Foster has been cleared to resume his MMA career.

A second MRI has determined that no permanent damage is present six weeks after doctors discovered a brain hemorrhage that forced Foster to withdraw from a fight with Sean Pierson at UFC 129 this past month.

Fiore said Foster soon will be able to spar again – he had been restricted from contact since the hemorrhage was discovered – and has been working to keep his conditioning in check. The two soon will move southward, where the trainer is setting up a new gym in suburban Dallas that’s aptly named Fiore MMA.

Fiore previously had trained fighters out of the Midwest-based H.I.T. Squad.

“It’s time for me to move on,” said Fiore, who recently split from St. Louis-area gym.

The brain-hemorrhage scare followed another devastating injury for the fighter.

Fiore previously told MMAjunkie.com that Foster received a hard kick to the groin in early March that caused one of his testicles to burst, and doctors were forced to remove it. In early 2010, he also broke his leg during a pickup basketball game.

“Fighting is Brian’s life,” Fiore said. “His last fight was in November, so this was a six-month layoff. Brian’s one of those guys that wants to fight. If he’s not hurt one week, he wants to fight the next.”

Foster (15-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) currently is on a two-fight win streak inside the octagon. He most recently dispatched Matt Brown by submission this past November at UFC 123. Considered one of the UFC’s most aggressive and hardest-hitting 170-pounders, he’s won three of his past four UFC fights, all via stoppage.

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